Look Who's Next Door?
by Scarlet Stars
Summary: What happens if you found out your enemy from school just lives right next door? Would you continue stay or would you leave? This is what Hermione Granger experiences. Handling it badly can only lead to the opposite way -- falling head over heels for him.
1. Door One: Her Almost Perfect Life

WARNING: ONLY FANS OF DRACO x HERMIONE SHOULD ATTEMPT READING THIS STORY :D Hope you will enjoy it!

**Looks Who's Next Door?  
**

Door One: Her Almost Perfect Life

_**Saturday 27**__**th**__** January**_

_**Time seems to fly really fast! I'm twenty eight years old, we have a big enough house that looks exactly like the one in fairy tales and in my dreams. I am married to a really loving and undeniably good-looking husband, who was the only one meant for me, blessed with two children. We are living happily ever after.  
**_

_**What else could be better than this?**_

_"'mione! Stop writing and come here!" He called while reading the newspaper on the chic Italian couch that he insisted on buying. It had only been a few hours since they have woken up, but he already longed for his wife in his arms again._

_"I'll be done in a minute!" Hermione hurriedly typed a few more lines on her online secret diary only to be accessed by her close girl friends and herself and shut down her pink laptop – he has a blue one while she has a pink one. (How sweet!) The couple preferred to buy their own laptops in case they messed each others reports and get into one of those terrible squabbles. This also gave them some alone time with their work._

_She ran down the stairs and jumped playfully into the couch where her husband was and he yelped._

_"Is it me or are you getting heavy, darling?" He raised his eyebrows, realizing that the couch almost fell apart when she dived in and he planted a kiss on her forehead._

_Hermione's eyebrows knitted and gave her 'killer' look to her "love" and gave a soft punch in his stomach. "Say that again… if you dare!" She growled menacingly at him. He repeated and tried suppressing his laughter._

_"Chris! Aubrey! Help me beat Daddy up!" Hermione called for help to deal with this infamous annoying git who praised her womanly figure not long ago where he described her as his goddess of natural beauty. Two adorable children laughed and ran into the living room, abandoning their task to build a perfect sandcastle set by their Mum in the sandpit conjured in the garden._

_Their father acted as if he was scared and thought that it was "unfair" of Hermione to receive aid from their children. Hermione gave him the "I don't care" smile and welcomed her children. They punched him on the chest and arms lightly; apparently they were not causing any pain at all. He grinned, winking at the children. She rolled her eyes._

_Hermione knew she had lost the battle and sighed_ –_ seems like they had an alliance with their dearest Dad. She crossed her arms. He came over and put her arms around her waist from her back, putting on an angelic, yet apologetic smile. That irresistible face of his only made Hermione loved him even more. She turned back and hugged him in return. Chris and Kathy giggled._

_"Oh yeah! I saw Aubrey at school yesterday making googley eyes at Leo! I think she's in love with him!" Chris guffawed, teasing her little sister. Leo was the most popular boy in their kindergarten._

_Aubrey shouted, "did not!" and blushed, turning her back against them shyly._

_Hermione and he exchanged knowing glances and their eyes seem to drift momentarily into the past._

_Their love story started way back, 6 years ago and surprisingly, they still could remember everything crystal clear in their minds...  
_

_**Flashback**_

It was a wonderful spring Saturday morning, exactly how she wanted the weather to be. The yellow sun slowly rose up the light blue sky, with multiple rays of light shining upon the vast area of houses in the estate. 'Definitely the suitable time and day to move!' She thought. She stepped on the brake of the car. Her eyes were fixed onto the house that she found with the address scribbled on a small piece of paper. She gasped and immediately got out of her yellow Volkswagen she saved up to buy.

The two-storey house stood before her. It was brick red, and white-framed glass windows and bushes outside of it made it look like a cosy little cottage, which included a small pathway leading to the wooden front doors. The garden had a few oak trees and a small pond with water lilies and tiny fishes inside swimming around. The landscape was breathtaking. Plants included daisies, periwinkles and carnation that were blooming. Hermione walked down the path and excitedly open the doors with her keys given by her parents. She stepped into the black-tiled floors and checked out all the rooms. It was flawless. Basically, the house has a large living room, a dining room, a medium-sized kitchen, two bedrooms, three bathrooms, a storeroom, a study and a beautiful garden that contained her favourite flowers. To her, this was the best birthday gift ever!

The present had her misery too: it was an opportunity to start in the muggle world with minimal usage of magic. It was the time to mend her broken heart and concentrate on more important issues, such as her job. She unpacked all her things and her hand phone vibrated.

"Honey?" An old man's voice called out.

"Dad! Mum! This is just marvellous! I love it!" Hermione squealed with joy, gratitude overwhelmed her.

"I knew you would love it! Enjoy!" He laughed, content with her daughter's reaction.

"Remember that this afternoon, Mr. Giovanni would be coming. So be punctual for your first meeting! You know how important this is." Her mother reminded her once again.

"Yes, yes Mum. Don't you worry, " Hermione smiled, getting rather impatient. She entered her bedroom and her eyes widened with shock. Her bedroom was more beautiful than the living room! Her queen-sized bed was facing the garden and it felt as though she was sleeping in a forest.

"Gosh, who designed this house?! It's amazing!" She asked and plopped onto the soft bed.

"It is a secret!" Her mother chuckled, and said, "have fun exploring, but don't get carried away!" and put down the phone.

She changed into some comfortable home clothes and took out a book from one of the bookshelves in the huge study that made Dumbledore's office look tiny. Hermione recognised a few books from her Aunt's collection and realised she had passed quite a number of them to her. Books made her even happier! She lay on her velvet reading chair and began reading "Why Men Are Such Jerks" until she was engrossed in it.

Her phone vibrated again, but this time was her alarm to go to work. Hermione went to her wardrobe to pick out some clothes. Since an important guest would be present on that day, she selected her newly-bought high, black pencil skirt and white blouse that made her look like a professional lawyer. In addition, Hermione wore the favourite glossy black pumps Ginny gave. She had to dress "elaborately", as stated by her Aunt just to have a serious aura amongst workers, but due to her personality, Hermione liked her style to be simple, yet classic.

She took her handbag, locked the house doors and drove off to her workplace.

**********

"Good afternoon, Miss Granger!" Hermione arrived at the lobby. Receptionists and her fellow workers greeted her. She just smiled politely at them. While waiting for the lift, a few male workers walked past her and one of them was staring hardly at her, as if he had never seen her before. Hermione noticed him and remembered his name vaguely – Michael. That was it. Previously, rumours were flying containing information of him having a crush on her (well, almost everyone did). However, she promised her Aunt never to date workers of lower ranks as things could get utterly complicated and it was bad for her image. Another reason deep down inside, was because she wanted to start afresh with her new life: she did not want her heart to be broken once again.

After Harry Potter defeated Lord Voldemort, Hermione worked as an auror, alongside Harry and accepted Viktor Krum to be her boyfriend because she felt they were truly made for each other when Krum moved to Britain for work. He retired as an international Quidditch player and was coaching a few teams there. Life carried on smoothly for two years until she found out he was two-timing her. Hermione had a big argument after confronting him, accusing him of cheating on her. He finally told the truth that he was dating another woman who was a celebrated supermodel. Needless to say, Hermione could not match up to her good looks. Feeling devastated than ever, she concentrated on her job to numb her pain from her broken heart. Her superior even wanted her to take a vacation, but Hermione was not convinced. She became a workaholic, handling many cases that were difficult to manage.

One month after the darkest days of her life, she received a letter from her parents. They wrote to her that her Aunt Louise needed a successor for her company as she is childless. She thought Hermione had the potential since she had always been a bright and intelligent child. Hence, Louise invited her to work in her company as her assistant for a period of time, until she knew all the operations of the company. Hermione's parents thought it was a great idea for their daughter to loosen up herself. Fortunately, Hermione did not mind this as she was a tad sick and tired of the wizarding world and had a chance to prove herself capable, without relying on men. Thus, she quit being an auror and bade her friends farewell. She told them she was taking a long break from everything, but she would write to them every week. Ron and Ginny Weasley was rather reluctant but knew the real Hermione return if she went. It was good for her to learn more new skills too as the job her Aunt introduced was more challenging than she initially thought.

Hermione got into her lift and entered her personal office on the 18th floor. Her secretary, Scarlett greeted her and gave her the 'someone is inside' look. Knowing this glance for months, she grinned as she opened the door.

"Hermione! Mr. Giovanni has just arrived!" Aunt Louise noticed her entrance and introduced this tall old man promptly, whose hair was almost white in a smart business suit. He seemed to be good looking when he was young. Mr. Charles Giovanni was the chairman of an advertising company and this meeting was extremely important to Louise. She trusted Hermione that she would perform well.

"Hello Miss Granger! I have been looking forward meeting you!" He shook hands with Hermione. She courteously invited him into the meeting room for discussion.

"Your proposal was simply marvellous!" He praised.

After approximately two hours...

"I _knew_ you could do it! Nothing fails you, my dear," Louise hugged Hermione.

"You have accomplished more than I have expected," she added with a sense of satisfaction.

Apparently, Hermione was also feeling very proud of herself. This was the first time she had clinched a big deal that would definitely benefit both companies in these three months.

**********

"Hey! Careful there! This thing is very expensive!" A man's voiced exclaimed.

"Slowly.... Slowly..!" He shouted again.

Suddenly, something made of glass shattered and it sounded really_ expensive_. Hermione tossed and turned, using her blanket and pillow to muffle the voices and the clanging of noises. Gosh.

"NO!!!! ... You will have to be responsible for it, chap!" the man said sharply, in a worried tone.

The truck outside seemed to have left its engine on. Hermione groaned and went up to the window to see what was happening that woke her up from her sleep.

She peeked out and saw a few men from the moving company carrying large tables and mattresses into the house.

_Hmmm... I didn't realise the house next door was vacant when I came. This new neighbour must be very eager to move in. Shall I go greet him/her or something?_

She took a look at the clock and was stunned.

_9 o' clock?! The service starts at 9.30!!!_

Hermione rushed like a mad woman. She brushed her teeth, washed her face and dressed casually for Sunday. She knew some old friends from kindergarten who she recently contacted and they urged her to follow them. It was weird as Hermione had never cared about having a religion, but she was curious and wanted to have a better knowledge of Christians. From then onwards, she was interested in being a part of the church and it really changed her life positively in a lot of ways.

Hermione grabbed a bagel from the jar in the kitchen and ran to the car.

She completely forgot about greeting her new neighbour.

* * *

_  
My oh my... My friends are going to be so shocked._ He sniggered.

The man in his early twenties walked around the house, inspecting every corner and room. He used his wand to fix the imperfections, but so far, he only spotted a few. He was reported that his favourite vase was broken by the moving man and he would compensate for it. The culprit was so scared that he begged him on the phone not to complain to his boss as he was on the verge of losing his job. Based on the economic crisis that he would never understand being a wizard, he let him off. He thought it was cool to do a good deed... once in a while.

He carried on taking a tour of the house. The appearance of the house outside was the exact opposite of its interior. Outside was warm and cosy, but inside, as what he would prefer was smartly designed using magic, stylish and cool. The muggles even installed lights that would automatically light up if a person walked by.

_Actually, this is not bad! I can hold my weekly events here.  
_

The doorbell rang abruptly.

His heart pounded.

_I haven't told anyone about this house. Unless...  
_

"Draaaaaakkkeeeeyyyyy!!!!" A woman's voice whined outside his dark, ebony wooden door.

He quickly opened it to reveal a tad sophisticated, but average-looking woman with long black hair whom he detested and dreaded for all his life. Pansy Parkinson.

"I'm _back_," she grinned.

"Shut up and come in..." He murmured coldly and slammed the door.

Author's note: 

Some of you may be confused but the beginning starts off with the present Draco and Hermione while the rest are flashbacks of their lives. I put italics on the present part as the majority of the story are flashbacks, thus I want to use the normal font to be more convenient for the writing :P I hope this will help you understand :) Continue reading to gain a better understanding of dear Draco!

PLEASE REVIEW! xD_  
_


	2. Door Two: Double Unlucky

Door Two: Double Unlucky

It was Sunday morning and the service had just ended in Hermione's church. Almost everyone squeezed through the small doors and some remained to chat. Hermione thought the message was meaningful and while she was passing through the doors, a tall man who was pushed by his short and geeky-looking friend blocked her. She stopped and stared at them as she did not know them at all, waiting for them to speak.

"Hi Hermione, how are you? I'm uhh… Ethan. And this is my friend, Seth.." The tall man with dark brown hair who looked almost like David Beckham muttered and smiled at her nervously.

Hermione nodded politely and shook hands with both of them. Seth nudged him as though he was trying to tell Ethan something.

"He's crazy about you – " He added and Ethan cupped his hands around his friend's mouth so he could not speak. There was a short moment of silence until Ethan spoke.

"Are you free tonight?" He finally blurted out.

"Me? Oh –" A familiar ring tone rang and Hermione dug for her hand phone in her black Prada tote bag and gave an apologetic smile to them. _"Can't read my, can't read my, no he can't read my poker face..."_

They waited for her patiently.

She whipped her hand phone, wondering who interrupted her conservation. It could be none other than --

"Hello Hermione! What about having dinner in your new house? Harry has this male party with his friends and wouldn't let me crash it," Ginny asked, sounding as though she was pouting.

Hermione looked at the two guys waiting for her and replied, "yeah, sure! See you later" and put her phone away.

"Sorry, I have an appointment… with my friend," she apologised. His friend gave Ethan a look and said, "oh no, that's fine.." looking kind of disappointed.

"But maybe next time!" Hermione smiled, left. "YES!" was what she heard and it was probably Ethan celebrating. She laughed and shook her head.

Hermione ate lunch with her church friends and before heading home, she wanted to store by the supermarket in her residential estate and bought some drinks and snacks for her and Ginny for tonight. They would most probably be cooking something crazy and watching a horror or a comedy to entertain themselves. This was quite common for them whenever they met at each others houses.

So Hermione entered the store and took a few cans of lemon tea and chips and paid at the counter. Her parents had already filled her refridgerator with fruits, vegetables and other cooking ingredients as they knew she normally cooks for herself. A couple entered the store too and grabbed cans of beer. Hermione only knew the blond man who came in was undoubtedly handsome and she took a second glance. Both of them looked like supermodels -- and matching ones.

_ 'Hands off Hermione... These kind of men would only break your heart!'_ She thought.

The blondie had his arms around the woman and queued up behind Hermione's counter. The woman said, "let's do something fun tonight, _Draco_."

"Shh!" He hushed her by kissing her.

Hermione froze. Her heart stopped beating and she was stunned.

Draco?... As in Draco MALFOY?!

Still in disbelief, she mustered all her strength to exit after paying and went outside the glass window to confirm her suspicions.

Okay. Blond hair? Check.

Tall and looks extremely loathsome now? Check.

A total womaniser? Check.

How many Dracos are there in this country? I only have came across one in my whole entire life.

URRGHH. JUST MY LUCK.

"That girl back there was acting so weirdly!" The woman came out and told him, clutching his hands.

"Who cares? She was just probably jealous of us." He laughed and they walked down the street.

Hermione hid herself behind the wall and hoped she was just seeing things. She got into her car and drove home, feeling really unlucky to have met that bastard and prayed to God not to let her meet _him _ever again. It was also unbelievable that _he_ was in the Muggle world as from what she remembered, he was a Muggle-hater...

Later that afternoon, at about 5:30, the doorbell rang.

Hermione opened the door and Ginny, in a bright cheerful, yellow sundress was looking at the neighbour's house, craning her neck as though trying to see something that was far away.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, trying to see what she was staring at and pulled her into her house.

Ginny reluctantly looked back at her best friend. "Well… Hi!" she waved and tried looking out of the door again while Hermione was about to close it. She looked questioningly at her and finally let go of the door for her to close it. Ginny admitted, "You didn't tell me there's a hot guy living next door! Geez, too bad I'm already married…" She heaved a big sigh.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "What 'hot' guy? That stupid neighbour basically ruined my morning and my afternoon! There were really loud noises coming from there and I was about to complain to the police!" She explained and took some drinks from the refrigerator.

"I think he just moved in. By the way, thanks for coming through the front door. I don't want my neighbours to be shocked by that girl who never came in went out."

"I understand, but I apparated at the nearby park where there are a lot of shady trees. I merely followed the couple here." She revealed and added, " it's quite sad that he's taken..."

Then, Hermione got reminded of seeing Draco Malfoy at a convenient store but she kept this piece of news to herself so that it would not ruin their evening. Besides, she was not exactly sure whether it was really him. It would be almost impossible.

"Your house is amazing! It looks like a six-star resort!" Ginny jumped into the large couch and switched on the television. Being Hermione's best friend, she had already 'mastered' at learning how to operate muggle appliances and gadgets. This delighted her father very much.

Hermione thanked her and opened the recipe book, "hmm... what should we cook today?" and conjured up a few ingredients.

"Let's see…" Ginny ran over to her side to browse through the thick book.

"Pasta!" They both said at the same time and laughed together.

***********

Late that night after Ginny left, Hermione changed into her pyjamas and went to sleep. Even though she looked mature on the outside, she still had child-like traits. For instance, wearing 'child-like' pyjamas was one of them. But of course, this is Hermione and I'm sure everyone has at least one sweet childhood memory.

She tucked into bed and fell into a deep sleep.

**********

"LET'S PAAAAARTTTYYYY!!!!" Draco yelled and the crowd cheered. He took a big gulp of the beer and poured the rest on others.

"This is absolutely the best housewarming party ever!" Blaise Zabini told Draco while he put his arms around four pretty women sitting around him.

"Yeah I know," Draco replied and took another gulp to drown all his unhappiness and kissed one of the girls he hired randomly. He organised this party and only his old Slytherin friends were invited.

There is always a dark side left unspoken for everyone. Thus, the reason why Draco had turned out like that happened almost a year ago when he was married to woman named Alice.

After the Dark Lord was defeated, Draco managed to get a job at Gringotts even though his family name went to the depths of mud. His father passed away in Azkaban as he could not adapt to the miserable and filthy life there. The Dementors especially, were merciless to him. It was worse than hell.

Hence, Draco inherited all his assets and some were given to his mother, Narcissa Malfoy. While working at Gringotts, he got to know Alice, who was very helpful to him and compassionate albeit he was very unpopular there as he and his father were notoriously famous. He gradually fell in love with her as his heart was touched by her. Draco then proposed to her after knowing her for five months, who was sure she was the one. Their blissful life carried on for about a year until he began to realise some things had gone missing from their house. For example, his watches, antiques and a few crystal ornaments.

Draco knew there was a thief in the house but was not sure who he/she was. He trusted his house elves would not steal as they have been very loyal to him since he was born. Eventually, Draco found out why his wife had been acting strangely around his house. He went to Gringotts to check his safe and sure enough, records showed that a total of five million galleons … was stolen from it. He apparated home and saw Alice dressing up unusually pretty in their bedroom and he stormed into the room.

"What have you done?!!" He pulled and shook her with all his strength as his eye were filled with rage and betrayal.

Seeing him being so furious, she already knew what he discovered.

"Surprise," she smiled, prying his arms away from her shoulders forcefully and put on her earrings.

"I just need some cash for me and my darling, you can be so gullible sometimes," and caressed his face with her pale hands.

He took her hand off his face angrily, "so you used me? Is money all you want? You never loved me at all?" He hollered and pushed her away.

"Aww… You just realised? What a pity…" She replied and smirked.

"You dirty hypocrite! Take all you want and LEAVE. I do not want to see your face ever again!" His voice trembled with fury slammed the doors.

_Nothing but a pack of lies!_

She packed her things and left without a word. Poor Draco felt stupid to have married such a horrid woman without suspecting that she cheated on him. Those memories were all lies… Fortunately, Draco did not lose all his assets. Some percentage of it was given to his mother to keep and majority was in the family safe, only to be accessed by Draco and his mother.

From that day onwards, he had never trusted women and did not dare to remarry again as he was fearful that the scenario would repeat. He believed women only love wealth and he was a fool to believe his ex-wife's 'undying love' for him. Thus, he was a bachelor again and was famous to have many women by his side for all the while. However, just like the old times at Hogwarts, he was never serious with any of them. They were for his entertainment. (Not that the author of this story supports this xD)

He went to pubs all day and drank with them. No one could stop him, not even his mother. He was repeatedly being stalked by spies hired by his mother and he could not take it anymore. He had to move somewhere else... somewhere where no one could find him.

Therefore, there was only one place where no one could find him.

The Muggle world.

He consulted a few of his relatives who owned a few houses where they previously used for hide outs and asked them to do the unbreakable oath so they would not tell her mother his whereabouts. They showed him a few pictures of their houses that were vacant and asked him to select one; Draco wanted something that he usually would not want to live in. He randomly picked one. The house he chose looked like a cottage which was most certainly, something his mother would not find him in. He smirked. Draco called up a Muggle-moving company, despite having some difficulty using the telephone to move some of his belongings so that his neighbours would not be suspicious of him. Draco wanted to live a low-profile life there, where he could start all over again without anyone knowing his tragic past.

Even Pansy, his ex-girlfriend heard of his divorce and visited him today somehow. Telling how much she missed him -- as a friend. She was dating some rich businessman in Switzerland and came by Britain to see how he was doing. Draco appreciated her 'thoughtfulness' and hoped she would not come back to visit him again as he found her annoying. Nevertheless, he was grateful to her support and concern when he was studying (or having fun) in Hogwarts. Their relationship fell apart years ago was probably because of the fact that they knew each other too well and were playmates since childhood. Meeting up once in awhile was fine (to him it would be once in 5 years), but Pansy would destroy his vacation if she stayed longer.

He invited his friends over the years from Hogwarts for a housewarming party to liven things up. He paid Muggle women to come and entertain them.

_They are really interesting... Not the same as the ones we had in the wizarding world. They are so... irresistible and flexible... _

He thought as he played a few games with them. The loser drinks the beer. Soon, he was drunk.

**********

Hermione prepared for bed after Ginny had left and turned off the lights.

"GIRLS?! ARE YOU HAVING A GREAT TIME????"

"Yesssssss!!!" They all shouted and giggled girlishly.

Hermione sat up. _Looks like my new neighbour is not cooperative at all..._

Anger was building up inside of her as the noise level increased. Unable to take it anymore, she grabbed her coat and went out of her house to the next door.

Hermione rang the doorbell. The door opened seconds later.

"Ahh... Hi. Are you the stripper?... Guys! Did you ask the stripper to wear her pyjamas???" A lady with dark red hair in a black mini dress asked the people behind.

"Whoizzat?.. " A blond man came up to the door, apparently drunk.

Hermione stood there lazily and noticed that he was oddly familiar. Her eyes suddenly lit up and she was awfully stunned!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" She cried out and rubbed her eyes, hoping it was a dream.

Draco went to the door and grinned. He did not seem to recognise Hermione or heard her yelling.

The lady stared at her ridiculously, "he's the owner of this house!" She replied, rolling her eyes.

Desperation overwhelmed Hermione as she could not believe her eyes. She was stuck to the ground as fear struck her.

"Hey pretty lady! Are you here for the party as well? I don't think I sent you an invitation... But you can join us." He winked. Blaise and Goyle came to the door to see what the commotion was all about. They stared at the brunette outside. "Isn't she...?" Blaised questioned. Goyle understood him, "but it can't be..." and shook off their suspicions.

"Hmm... Is that a sponge cartoon I see?" Draco laughed. Hermione looked down swiftly and saw her Spongebob Squarepants pyjamas was not totally covered. Everyone suddenly heard him and laughed at Hermione. Feeling absolutely embarrassed, she pulled the coat closer to her, shouted, "-- sick, perverted idiot! You... You better stop stalking me or... I will call the police!" and walked away hurriedly, but truthfully she almost broke into a sprint.

When she entered the house, Hermione locked her door instantly.

"Oh my gosh... This is not good. That ferret living next door?!!" She was on the verge of tears.

"He would make my life like hell. Partying with all his friends... Harry and Ron would definitely oppose!" All the bad memories of her school life all came rushing into her head.

Mudblood... kept playing repeatedly in her mind.

_I have to leave... I got to leave!_

Author's note:

Sorry for the really late update =x but PLEASE REVIEW!!! Hope this chapter is fun to read and my portrayal of the characters are fine!

:DDD


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